A slower pace

Growth rates for the Fantastic 50 aren’t as high as they used to be.

The slow pace of recovery from the 2007-09 recession appears to have curbed the pace of Virginia’s 50 fastest-growing companies.

The 2013 Fantastic 50 had a median four-year revenue growth rate of 243.34 percent, the lowest level seen on the list since 2008.

In addition, the growth rate of the top company on the list this year, 2,165 percent, while amazing, is more than 2,500 percentage points lower than the four-year growth rate recorded by last year’s leading company.
The 2013 Fantastic 50 list was compiled by comparing the revenue growth from 2008 through 2011. Those years included the low point of the Great Recession and the first two years of the recovery.

According to the World Bank, U.S. gross domestic product declined slightly (down 0.4 percent) in 2008 before falling 3.5 percent the next year. GDP bounced back 3 percent in 2010 before slowing to 1.7 percent in 2011.

To be eligible for the Fantastic 50 this year, a company must have had revenue of at least $200,000 in 2008. It also must have made a profit in 2011 and have revenue of less than $100 million in its most recent fiscal year.

The Fantastic 50 presents four Vanguard Awards this year to the company with the highest revenue growth on the list and three other companies which recorded the greatest growth in their industry group.